Live Reporting

Get involved

Post update

Wow. That two hours has absolutely flown. I'm going to close my eyes in bed tonight and just see hundreds of tiny Wiggos going round and round and round.

Dave Brailsford nailed it when he said it was one of those 'where were you when' moments. And I'm delighted you were able to be with us for a moment of history.

Time for a cup of tea. Goodnight.

APCopyright: AP

19:59

Post update

Bradley just mentioned he went to the barber's this morning to get the beard and barnet trimmed.

The barber asked, "are you up to anything today?".

Yeah, just breaking the hour record mate, no biggie.

19:58

Post update

British cyclist Michael Hutchinson on Twitter: "OK -- out on a limb here, but I don't think that record will last a year. A pity about the weather, because it was a great ride."

19:57

Post update

British Olympic medallist Dani King on Twitter: "Brad truly is a legend. I am again inspired."

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

19:56

Post update

I've just been told that the distance Wiggins covered in an hour is roughly the equivalent of cycling from Liverpool to Manchester.

Except he didn't get stuck in the M62 roadworks or stop for a pasty at the services.

19:55

Post update

Former performance director of British Cycling Dave Brailsford tells Sky Sports: "He rode well, it was heavy. He dug in and ground it out. He is the king of pacing. The crowd love him, everybody loves him. He's a magnificent athlete. You'll look back in your life and say 'I was there'."

19:53

Post update

Chris Boardman

Olympic cycling champion on Twitter

"Congratulations to Brad Wiggins, phenomenal effort. 1036mb air pressure. Right day, another km. another go maybe....?"

19:52

Post update

Bradley Wiggins tells Sky Sports: "If this was the only thing I did in my career it might have gone unnoticed. But to do it after everything I've done, as an old man, is wonderful.

"We had to make it so warm in here, the leccy bill is going to be enormous."

19:50

Post update

It took about five minutes for Wiggins to answer the first question, because the noise of this delirious crowd was too much.

Wiggins has now been presented with a giant certificate with his time on - a bit like those big charity cheques - and he's back on his bike again.

Stay off the bike Bradley!

19:48

Post update

Bradley Wiggins tells Sky Sports: "I'm just glad it's done. That's the closest to knowing what it's like to have a baby. It was tortuous. You're counting down the minutes.

"We've been through a lot as a little team, my wife and kids know a lot about air pressure.

"I always compare myself to the greats. I'm just glad to be in the company of those guys. Just to get up there and do that takes a lot of courage. It's tough."

19:42

'I had a lot left in the tank'

Alex Dowsett

Current hour record holder

We spoke to Alex Dowsett on Friday and he says he will probably have another go. But it will be very difficult.

"At the end of the day we went out to just break the record. I had quite a lot left in the tank. We will likely go back and have another crack. I'm only 26, I've got nine years left of my career, so some time in the next time years."

19:39

Success in France

AFPCopyright: AFP

While we catch our breath and await the words of Wiggo, let's catch up on some earlier news.

It's already been a pretty good day for British cycling.

Team Sky's Peter Kennaugh won the first stage of the Tour de France warm-up Criterium du Dauphine.

He also got a cuddly lion, which I'm sure made it all worthwhile.

Team-mate Chris Froome was 16th.

Posted at 18:39 7 Jun 201518:39 7 Jun 2015

comments

Tweet us via #bbccycling

Danny Cunningham: Wiggo could have gone even further if the Time Lords hadn't decided there could only be 60 minutes in an hour! Legend!

Stuart Mitchell: 54.526 is a mark that won't be beat for a while. Hope Dowsett gives it a go though.

Paul Mulligan: Congratulations @bradwiggins you absolute legend. What a phenomenal effort from an icon of the sport. Stunning

Rhian: Awesome Bradley, Congratulations world record holder!! what an amazing effort and achievement

19:37

Post update

Wiggins's coach for the attempt Heiko Salzwedel on Sky Sports: "I'm over the moon. That was one of the highlights of my career and Bradley's career. I will remember that for a lifetime. I could see he was running out of gas but he was fighting."

19:33

Post update

When Jens Voigt sparked the new set of records last year, he could barely stand.

Bradley Wiggins, the weirdo, is back on his bike doing a lap of honour. I would never want to see another bike for as long as I live.

19:30

Post update

Wiggins sets new record of 54.526km

That's 1.589km further than Alex Dowsett's record.

19:29

Post update

Wiggins just about manages to lift a limp fist into the air. He is spent, a man who has given everything. a 5,500-capacity crowd salutes a legend of his sport.

And, what? He's off his bike and lifting his bike above his head. He's made of that metal they used for Captain America's shield.

Post update

Who would have thought watching a bloke go round and round and round and round would be so much fun?

I am aware I am asking that question to people who are reading about a bloke going round and round and round and round. Which I assume is even more fun.

32 mins

Post update

117 laps -1min 15 secs

The conditions Michael speaks of is the weather around London. "It's indoors!" I hear you cry.

Yes, but the air pressure is pretty high, which makes it just a tiny, minute bit tougher for Wiggins.

Posted at 17:57 7 Jun 201517:57 7 Jun 2015

Post update

British cyclist Michael Hutchinson on Twitter: "He's not going to break 55km. Which will disappoint a lot of people -- but with the conditions here today, it was never really on."

29 mins

Post update

105 laps -1 minute 10 secs

Century up! And, like English batsmen used to do with such regularity, the crowd is on its feed to applaud the reaching of 100 laps.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

26 mins

Post update

Lap 96 -1min 2 secs

And that gap is just getting bigger and bigger. It has surpassed a minute for the first time.

If, and it's a big if, Wiggins can maintain this, he will smash the record.

23 mins

Post update

84 laps -58.797 seconds

Right. So this is blistering and brave from Wiggins at the start.

His pace is 58 seconds quicker than Dowsett's record at the same stage. Can he maintain it?

The crowd decide to come alive for a brief moment.

Posted at 17:48 7 Jun 201517:48 7 Jun 2015

Post update

British cyclist Michael Hutchinson on Twitter: "Coach Heiko is standing a bit in front of the line - so Wiggins is just below the pace he wants. But still on 54.5kph."

Posted at 17:47 7 Jun 201517:47 7 Jun 2015

Post update

Former performance director of British Cycling Sir Dave Brailsford on Sky Sports: "I'd like to think he's not thinking about the crowd at all. He'll be focusing on his pacing. Bradley thrives off big, scary, ambitious goals. So far he looks really good."

17 mins

Post update

64 laps

Crouched into his handlebars, wrists pointing directly forward, golden helmet on his head, Wiggins continues his dizzying spin around the velodrome. He looks comfortable, calm and consistent.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Posted at 17:42 7 Jun 201517:42 7 Jun 2015

'Like Star Trek'

I hope you're paying attention to this - you might not see it happen again for a long, long time.

If everything goes to plan for Wiggins, the record will stand for some time.

Jens Voigt, who briefly held the record in September, predicted: "I think he will go warp speed, like Star Trek, between 54-55km. And after that not many riders will want to try for a while."

15 mins

Post update

54 laps

The clock is working again by the way, which I'm delighted about, because my job would have proved very interesting without it.

12 mins

Post update

43 laps

So Wiggins is expected to break this down into five 12-minute sections, and we're just coming up to the end of the first of those spells.

He's clocked up 43 laps. So some quick simple maths will tell you that would equal around 215 laps. The last 12 minutes will be the quickest of the bunch though.

8 mins

Post update

31 laps

There is something wonderfully mesmerising about this. Wiggins, like a metronome, is swinging his way around the track with clockwork regularity.

He's on 31 laps now. Dowsett's record took 212 laps. Still a bit to go.

Posted at 17:33 7 Jun 201517:33 7 Jun 2015

History beckons

While Wiggins settles into his pace - here's a bit of extra reading for you.

"You're racing against history. The basis of the record hasn't really changed, it's one hour, on a track, as far as you can go."

Post update

Wiggins has very much gone for a blistering opening spell. He's almost 10 seconds ahead of Alex Dowsett's world record pace.

At least I think he is - they're having a few technical problems in London...

3 mins

Post update

So, Wiggo was so keen to get under way, he's gone a bit early. Three minutes early in fact. So it's official, he's under way!

18:26

Post update

OJ Borg, BBC Radio 5 live's presenter of BeSpoke, on Twitter: "BRING THE NOISE. The Wiggins #myhour crowd have a music festival vibe. The bars are rammed. And wiggins comes out. RUCOUS."

18:24

What a welcome

Wiggins is on his way out, on his bike, and the crowd are lapping it up. Everybody is on their feet, clapping frantically, rock music is pumping out the PA.

It's a pretty special moment to be honest.

I can confirm the beard has gone. The haircut is very much a more cropped affair too - although I hope he'll be putting a helmet on.

Posted at 17:22 7 Jun 201517:22 7 Jun 2015

comments

How far will Wiggo go?

Tweet us via #bbccycling

Keep your guesses for the distance coming - use #bbccycling on Twitter to join in.

Stuart Mitchell: Bradley has been talking of mid 54km so i wouldn't bet against that possibly even reaching 55, my guess 54.784

Roy Horn: Brad will get 53.843 km in the hour. The high pressure and the audience will tell late on.

Matt Thorpe: 55.25km Wiggo the man to take it all the way

Bryan Saunders: I cycled 55 km around Sao Paulo in 2+ hours today, Bradley Wiggins to attempt it in 1! Hope he has less traffic!

18:20

Precious oxygen

There have been a few races already on Lee Valley VeloPark track. The capacity crowd of 5,500 was sold out in seven minutes, don't you know?

Although Wiggo will be looking at all those extra people and just seeing them as potential oxygen stealers. He'll want as much air to himself as he can get.

18:17

Count the fingers

Alex Dowsett

Current hour record holder

How do you break the hour record? Current record holder Alex Dowsett describes his strategy.

"Everyone has ridden the hour record slightly differently. I opted for negative splits.

"For 52 minutes of the hour I was behind record holder Rohan Dennis. Rohan started out a fast pace but faded in the last 15 minutes.

"Every single lap is recorded and half a lap later I am given a hand single - the number of fingers up or down is the number of seconds I am up or down on the schedule."

18:14

A brief history of time

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Many wonderful things have occurred in Wolverhampton, but possibly few are as notable as James Moore's first unofficial hour record, set on a penny farthing, in 1873.

Moore travelled 22.331km, which is incredible considering he spent 20 minutes of his attempt getting on the bike (that's a lie).

Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's 49.431km in the high altitude of Mexico City in 1972 is seen as one of the greatest ever rides.

After that, it all gets a bit murky, with the UCI, in 1997, retrospectively discounting any records that weren't achieved on an old-school bike like Merckx's.

The UCI reassessed that policy last year, allowing modern race bikes to be used, and before you know it, everybody's having a crack at it.

18:10

Warm-up Wiggo

We're seeing shots of Bradley Wiggins in the bowels of the velodrome. He's on a stationary bike, getting the legs warm.

He looks relaxed. But when has Wiggo ever looked stressed? There's a suggestion the beard may have been shaved off too - could that add an extra kilometre or two?

18:08

'The problem is the unknowns'

Alex Dowsett

Current hour record holder

We spoke to Alex Dowsett on Friday, here he talks us through the preparations for his successful hour attempt in May.

"The longest I did beforehand was a 35-minute stint. The problem is the unknowns on the day - it costs a huge amount of money to bring the room up to temperature.

"All my training sessions were done at 22 degrees centigrade, whereas in the race it was 28. We didn't know what toll that would take on my body, but it makes conditions faster.

"When I do my second attempt I will know a lot more. I know that doing 17.1-second laps in the race is like doing 17.3secs or 17.4secs in training. You wish you could do it again two days later because of what you've learned."

18:06

Your reigning, defending champion

Distance to beat - 52.937km

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

In May, Britain's Alex Dowsett became the fourth man in eight months to break the hour record, by travelling 52.937km at Manchester's velodrome.

The 26-year-old Movistar rider beat Australian Rohan Dennis's mark of 52.491km (32.89 miles), set in February.

Essex's Dowsett is a three-time national time trial champion, a Commonwealth Games time trial gold medallist, and a stage time trial winner in the Giro d'Italia.

Posted at 17:05 7 Jun 201517:05 7 Jun 2015

comments

How far will he go?

Tweet us via #bbccycling

TwitterCopyright: Twitter

Chris Hoy reckons 54.458km, which is wonderfully specific. But we want your guesses, and a sentence backing up your prediction.

It's a bit like that game at the school fete where you guess the number of sweets in the jar, except there's no prizes and it's not next to the hook-a-duck stall.

Anyone who says 'I reckon it will take him an hour' will be immediately disqualified for being unfunny.